Five hours to instantly

BioMar saves time with automated reporting

BioMar has consolidated its third place in the global market for fish feed with the acquisition of the fourth largest supplier. The Danish-owned group now has 5 billion DKK in annual revenue (US$832 million), achieving its growth objective two years ahead of schedule. BioMar collects and consolidates its finances using SAS® Financial Management.

BioMar produces about 700,000 tons of fish feed at facilities in seven countries and employs 800 workers at sites in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Chile, the UK, France, Poland, Greece, Italy and Spain. Its suppliers are spread out in 50 countries with more to come.

Our goal is to deliver the total month's reporting in 10 working days for the whole group.

Stig Vestergaard
Financial Controller

BioMar's key figures are in every way impressive, and the group is creating its own consolidated economic overview with SAS. The data is fed locally by six ERP systems – including Axapta, Navision, Concorde XAL, MultiPlus, Calipso – located in the subsidiaries.

"We have laid down a strategy: 'Going for Global Growth,' and we will be among the largest in the world in our market," says Finance Director Mogens Stentebjerg. "The way forward is through organic growth and acquisition. Consequently, we have a need for many-sided and broad financial reporting. SAS is our permanent systems supplier whenever we need to build a consolidated overview of the group."

Acquisitions and mergers spout immediate financial complexities. So BioMar needed a solution that could rapidly create continuity and establish a uniform overview.

"Speed is crucial," Stentebjerg says.

Consolidation in a few days

In practice, three people manage the consolidation of BioMar group accounts. They sit in the Aarhus group headquarters, where SAS is the definitive tool for collecting accounting data from more than 20 companies. SAS automates the consolidation.

"Our goal is to deliver the entire month's reporting in 10 working days for the entire group," says Stig Vestergaard, Financial Controller.

Every month, BioMar's managers receive a 40-page digest containing a consolidated view of finances. The report contains the central key performance indicators. This has relevance for both managers in the group and out in the subsidiaries.

The report is written, but the economists plan a bit further along to make the database available for users so that they can track their own reports.

Cultural changes

"We have a way to go before our management can simply jump into the digital reporting," says Vestergaard. "A person has to be trained and we must develop a culture where online information has the same significance and credibility as the traditional paper report."

BioMar will obtain many benefits by automating its business processes. Previously, for example, the Financial Department spent five hours a month collecting data on illness and absence. Now, with SAS, that occurs automatically.

The large database offers a number of benefits. "It is easy to solve ad hoc tasks when managers around the organization have inquiries, Vestergaard says. "But naturally, it requires that the data be in the system."

Challenge

Automate collection and consolidation of finances to support decisions amid rapid growth.